[Bob the hobo] A Celestial Wars Spin-Off Part 0148

PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT

Since Daniel was the senior officer on the case, he sat in the chair in front of the captain’s desk while the captain leaned forward on his elbows from his side and listened intently to every word 1PP detective said. Lucas let Angelo have the other seat, though he pulled it back behind the first in a clear case of rank and had Angelo sit down while he stood behind Detective Nascerdios.

There was enough chain that he could stand comfortably at ease with his left hand down at his side in silent support of his commanding officer.

His phone had already rung once on his way to Captain Fogel’s office, but no way was he bothering with it now. Not when it wasn’t important.

Well, not as important as this meeting. Based on the simple ringtone, it wasn’t from anyone he knew well enough to allocate one to.

Sure enough, it went away by the time they reached the captain’s office and they were all ushered inside.

Less than a minute later, it rang again.

Everyone ignored him as he dropped his right hand from the middle of his back and dove into his knee-pocket, where, by feel alone, he flicked the side switch that silenced the call without ever breaking eye contact with his captain. As soon as it was done, he straightened once more and stood with his feet shoulder-width apart.

Seconds later, it vibrated something fierce in the pocket. Every muscle in Lucas’ body fought to remain perfectly still as the vibrations continued to rain on his right knee. The same knee he blew out ten years ago playing football. He didn’t want to bring any attention to himself as he tried to angle the pocket so it sat forward off his knee, but swear to God it felt like someone had found a hot poker and was trying to remove his kneecap with it.

Angelo must have sensed something, or heard something for he leaned forward and looked up at him, questioningly. Lucas didn’t dare move until the vibration finally stopped and then he released his breath in a relieved huff.

His knee still buzzed from the aftermath, but without the phone going off to agitate it, he could shift his weight to push the pocket off of his knee, making a mental note to move it permanently to his left knee pocket just as soon as he could. Then it could vibrate until hell froze over for all he cared.

Then it rang a fourth time. “Oh, for the love of God! Just answer it, Dobson, and then turn it off!” Captain Fogel snapped, in no mood to be interrupted even by a vibration.

“Yes, sir,” Lucas said, immediately retrieving the phone. It was still no one he knew, but rather than talk openly, he turned and put his back to the other occupants of the room. “Who is this?” he demanded, having every intention of hunting them down and throttling them for not taking the first three hints.

“Oh, thank God,” the voice on the other end said in a rush. Whoever it was then added in muffled glee, “It still counts. I’m not in the room yet.”

Lucas would recognise that country sass anywhere. “MASON?!”

Hearing Daniel launch to his feet, Lucas retraced his half-twist so that the handcuff between himself and Angelo didn’t wrap around him.

“Yeah, man, it’s me. Listen, we gotta talk, like right, right, right now. Please? Whatever you’re doing, drop it and get here. I’ve never been more serious in my life. Pretty please, man. With every cherry in the fucking world on top. I need you.”

Daniel was already talking into his own phone.

“No…no—no! One more second, please?” Lucas heard Mason beg, as whoever had loaned Mason their phone clearly wanted it back.

“Mason, tell them you have Officer Dobson of the Major Case Squad on the phone and that I need to talk to them.” That might have been a little stretch of the truth, but he figured an association with 1PP would motivate the nurse far more than ‘Foot Patrolman Dobson of the 5th’. He heard what he thought was a female voice amidst the struggle, but until he knew that for sure, he didn’t want to assume. Daniel held up two fingers and mouthed two minutes at him.

Lucas nodded.

Mason must have passed the message on, for a woman came onto the line. “Now see here, Officer Dobson,” she said in a strict, no-nonsense voice.

“Ma’am, Mason Williams is a critical witness in a Major Case Squad case and it is imperative he stays calm and on the line with me for two more minutes while we get uniformed officers from the fourth floor down to safeguard him.” At least, that was Lucas’ guess as to where Daniel was going to get uniforms to Mason from in under two minutes. Which brought up an important part. “I assume he is still in the same room on the first floor?”

“Ahhh, yes,” the nurse said, and Lucas could all but feel Mason’s smugness in the background.

“I’m sorry to bother you like this, Nurse…?”

“Parfin. Tammy Parfin.”

“Nurse Parfin,” Lucas said, keeping it professional. “If you could put Mr Williams back on the phone, I'd be most appreciative.”

After a moment or two, Mason was back on the line. “Hey, what’d you say to her, man? I thought she was going to choke on her tongue for a second.”

“Behave yourself, Mason,” Lucas reprimanded. “This is serious.”

“Oh, you don’t even know the half of it, Lucas. Angelo …”

“Shhh,” Lucas shushed. “Officers are on their way to you as we speak, but they aren’t going to want your statement either, buddy. They’re just going to come and keep you company until Detective Nascerdios and I can get to you.”

“Wait, you know a Nascerdios?”

Lucas blinked, then covered his eyes. Holy hell! Had it really only been a month since all of this madness started? “Yeah, buddy,” he said in a strained voice. “I know a Nascerdios or two.” …or four.

“Who? Which ones?”

Daniel made the motion with one hand of a puppet talking while his other hand rolled in a ‘keep going’ way. “My new boss is a Nascerdios,” he said, not wanting to say over the phone that two of their five roommates were also Nascerdios, or that they were now living with a third. One of those he was still coming to terms with. “But I doubt you’ve heard of him.”

“But they’re all related, right? So is he richer than Sam’s dad? I bet he is.”

“Dude, I am literally standing beside him, and you want me to ask him how rich he is?”

“Okay, I didn’t know he was right there. Wow. You work for the Nascerdios now?”

“I’m working under Detective Nascerdios,” Lucas corrected. “And we both work for the NYPD. I still wear a badge.” And a gun, you little shit. Lucas wasn’t sure how much of his conversation his captain and the detective were hearing, but the way Angelo drew his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs and rocked on the seat, he had clearly heard at least some of it.

“Right. Right, right.”

It suddenly occurred to Lucas that this was the Mason of old. “Man, how are you so full of beans?” Lucas wasn’t a doctor by any stretch, but the young vet in training didn’t sound in the least bit hurt. If anything, he sounded perfectly fine. He knew Llyr had pulled strings to bring in Doctor Nascerdios, but he hadn’t expected her to pull off this level of miracle.

Lucas glanced across at Daniel, wondering just how he and Doctor Nascerdios were related. If just their looks were anything to go by, probably siblings, or maybe cousins.

“I don’t know,” Mason admitted, settling down from his excitement. “I just remember waking up and needing to find a phone pront…hey–your peeps are here.”

“Alright. They’re going to stay with you until we get down there. In order to get your statement first, your family won’t be able to come in and visit this morning.”

“They have been here?”

“Of course they have! Half your clan’s been holed up in various motels across the city for the last few weeks, man. They’ve been swapping in and out to keep your parents company and your grandfather came out of retirement to run the farms.”

“Jesus! Gramps? He retired before they put power to the farm!”

“Well, I guess he made it work because he and your little sister are the only ones I haven’t met yet. You scared the shit out of a lot of good people.”

“Scared the shit outta m'self too,” Mason admitted. “I thought for sure I was a goner.”

You weren’t alone there, buddy-boy, Lucas wisely thought to himself. “Okay then. Give the nice Nurse Parfin back her phone and tell her thank you very much.”

Mason suddenly went quiet. “Do I have to?” he hedged nervously.

This was exactly why he’d needed to stay on the line. “Ask one of the officers to give you his or her number, and I’ll ring back on that one.”

“Okay.”

Balancing his phone on his shoulder, Lucas reached into his pocket and drew out his notepad and pen and began writing down numbers.

* * *

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PART ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE

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((All comments welcome))

I made a family tree/diagram of the Mystallian family that can be found here

For more of my work including previous parts or WPs: r/Angel466 or indexed here

FULL INDEX OF BOB THE HOBO TO DATE CAN BE FOUND HERE!!